Raed Saleh. (Hillel Maeir) Hillel Maeir

Haifa Magistrate’s Court on Sunday convicted Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, for inciting terrorism, yet again.

By TPS

Sheikh Raed Salah was convicted by an Israeli court after being charged with incitement for eulogizing the terrorists who carried out the July 2017 terror attack on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in which three terrorists killed two Israeli policemen.

Salah, a former mayor of the Arab city of Umm al-Fahem in northern Israel, has had repeated run-ins with Israel and was previously imprisoned for funneling money to Hamas.

He also already served time for incitement after being sentenced in October 2015 to 11 months in prison.

Salah was also convicted of supporting an illegal association because of his role in the Islamic Movement, which has been declared an illegal organization.

The northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which has ideological ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas terror group, was outlawed by Israeli authorities in November 2015 after being charged with stoking incitement that led to violence and terrorism.

On his way to court, Salah was surrounded by hundreds of supporters, including by Arab Members of Knesset from the Joint List.

MK Youssef Jabareen claimed Sunday’s ruling was “political persecution that has no security considerations.”

Conversely, Minister of Education Rafi Peretz welcomed the conviction and stated that “supporting the Islamic Movement means supporting terrorism.”

He expressed hope that Salah’s verdict would be “maximal and as severe as possible.”

He added that the conviction reflected on current politics, “and to all those who imagined a minority government leaning on the Joint List, I suggest you take a good look at who came to the courtroom this morning and supported the inciting sheik.”